Popular antibiotics regenerated heart cells
US scientists have found that a combination of commonly used antibiotics can treat heart failure in mammals.
Heart failure is a syndrome caused by decompensated myocardial dysfunction. The syndrome usually develops after heart attacks that irreversibly damage and weaken the heart muscle. Current treatments (with the exception of heart transplantation) can only slow the progression of the condition, but it is not possible to completely repair the damaged tissue.
Scientists from the University of Texas (USA) decided to find out whether the currently available drugs are able to regenerate heart cells. They presented the conclusions of their work in the journal Nature Cardiovascular Research.
The researchers used software to search for drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which would be able to bind to two proteins - Meis1 and Hoxb13. It is these proteins that prevent heart muscle cells from dividing and regenerating.
As a result, the scientists identified nine drugs with potential activity against the proteins. Petri dish experiments showed that two of them - paromomycin and neomycin - stimulate heart muscle division in rats. Both drugs are well-known and widely used antibiotics: the former is used to treat parasitic infestations of the gastrointestinal tract, while the latter is used to treat wound infections, a number of eye, vaginal and skin diseases.
The researchers then intravenously administered both drugs to seven pigs in which they had previously induced cardiac ischemia. Following this, some of the heart's muscle tissue is replaced by connective tissue (scarring). Because the connective tissue is not involved in muscle function, the functionality of the heart is reduced - similar to what happens to humans after a heart attack.
The exact same number of animals did not receive antibiotics. The treatment was given daily for five weeks. The scientists then measured the scar tissue of the heart of both groups of pigs, as well as the ability of this organ to pump blood.
It turned out that in the hearts of the animals that received antibiotics, there was about half as much scar tissue as in the organs of pigs that were not subjected to such treatment. In addition, the hearts of the former pumped blood better. The analysis also showed that compared to the organs of untreated animals, the level of a biological marker of cell division in those who received antibiotics increased about 25 times.
The authors of the scientific work concluded that therapy with a combination of paromomycin and neomycin is able to regenerate heart cells. Despite this, the researchers treated the results with caution - the data do not necessarily indicate cell regeneration. They may simply be effective in protecting the heart. To find out for sure what is happening in this fragile organ, it is necessary to take a video of cell division.